


you'll find a way

by Naya



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-04
Updated: 2014-01-04
Packaged: 2018-01-07 10:34:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1118872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Naya/pseuds/Naya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A month after John gets married, Sherlock gets a cat.</p>
            </blockquote>





	you'll find a way

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a little thing I wrote mostly to amuse myself. I love the idea of Sherlock with animals, specially with cats. So... here you go. 
> 
> If you still haven't started season 3, well, beware of s3 spoilers. 
> 
> If you have, or if you want to read it anyway, well. Enjoy!

A month after John gets married, Sherlock gets a cat.

It’s not like he’s planning to do it. It just… happens. He’d just finished solving a case with John, they’d had a drink, some chips, and then the doctor had said his goodbyes and headed home to his wife. Sherlock, alone, had decided to take a walk back to the flat, and he'd been two streets away from Baker St, passing by an alley, when he heard the mewling.

He instantly knew that it was a kitten, barely a month old, female, and very, very scared. He didn’t know, however, what was that drove him to take a step back and search through the garbage spread around the alley’s entrance until he found the little animal, shaking and impossibly skinny, inside an empty can of beans.

He didn’t know what made him take her in his hands and hold her until she’d stopped mewling and started purring. And he absolutely had no idea why he’d walked the streets he had left with the cat in his hands and took her into the flat, giving her the milk that Mrs Hudson had remembered to buy for him and then spending the rest of the night searching for cats facts on the internet and how to take care of her while the cat slept.

He didn’t like not knowing, of course. Though he had an idea of what it was, but he didn’t like it.

Sherlock Holmes? Sentiment?

For a _cat_?

_Laughable._

 

…except it wasn’t.

To be fair, he never meant to give the animal a name. But a night became a week, and a week became a month, and it wasn’t long till he couldn’t hide having a cat inside the flat anymore (Mrs Hudson found the hairs and hairballs pretty soon).

John had laughed for an hour before he understood that the cat was actually staying, and then he’d spent another hour cooing at it. Mary had been thrilled and started playing with the animal almost instantly (the cat loved her). Mrs Hudson hadn’t been too happy, saying that she would not clean whatever mess the cat did (though obviously, that was a lie) until she eventually fell in love with the little animal, too, petting it and calling it all sorts of ridiculous names alongside John.

So anyways, Sherlock hadn’t even thought about giving it a name. All the time he just referred to her as “The Cat” and nothing else. But John, Mary and Mrs Hudson were quick to interfere and tell him that a pet needed a name.

It mattered not that Sherlock told them a thousand times that the cat wasn’t his _pet_. It was just… living with him, so she shouldn’t have to stay on the streets. Because _nobody_ likes to be on the streets.

Sherlock Holmes didn’t have _pets_.

 

…in the end, the cat was named Carlotta, and she quickly became everyone’s favorite.

Mrs Hudson got her the best cat food. John bought her a dozen toys (which she loved, especially the little ball attached to the end of a rope that Sherlock tied to the staircase; she loved pushing at it with her paws until she got tired). Mary made sure to remember Sherlock when she needed to be vaccined and always asked about her when they saw each other. Lestrade always took photos of her on his phone. And Molly bought her all kinds of ridiculous clothes (that Sherlock only put on her when nobody was looking).

And just like that, Carlotta became a part of the picture. She was there when Sherlock woke up and she was there when Sherlock went to sleep, stubbornly climbing into his bed and curling up next to him no matter how many times he put her down (until he finally gave up completely and just let her do her thing). She sat quietly next to the fireplace while Sherlock paced across the flat and talked to her, brainstorming facts about cases to make it more clear in his head, and she actually mewled everytime Sherlock made a question.

(He wasn’t crazy enough to believe that the cat understood him, but hey, it was funny.

And cute.

But nobody needed to know that.)

 

Sherlock doesn’t even realize how a whole year has gone past until New Years comes around. At the party, hosted at the flat as always, John and Mary talk about having children. Everyone congratulates them while Mrs Hudson hugs them and tears up a little before complaining about her hip. Lestrade talks about work and his own children (completely avoiding mentioning his wife) and Molly and Tom sit quietly at the back, holding hands and whispering about their future.

Sherlock sits by the fireplace, observant as always while Carlotta sits on his lap. He sips on a cup of wine and drops his eyes down to her, rubbing her chin. She’s gotten incredibly big and “adorably fat”, according to Mary, during her first year. Her black and white fur is shiny and bright, and her eyes have kept the clear color they’d had when she was just a kitten.

Blue.

"So, happy new year." John appears out of nowhere, and Sherlock looks up to him before looking around. He sees everyone hugging and realizes that it’s already midnight.

John sits on the sofa in front of him and Sherlock smiles in his direction. “Happy new year,” he says.

Mrs Hudson and the others laugh in the background, all of them now having a huge group hug.

Then John smiles back, his eyes warm and familiar. The ring on his left hand catches the light of the fire.

On Sherlock’s lap, Carlotta mewls and licks her paw, licking Sherlock’s hand right after.

Life is good.

 

END.

**Author's Note:**

> If you could spot the Johnlock you get a cookie. 
> 
> Feedback is greatly appreciated :)
> 
> NOTE: This was written and posted before "The Sign of Three" aired so that's why Mary isn't pregnant yet.


End file.
